Chris "HuK" Loranger: Time for a Resurgence?

Chris Loranger, better known by his gamer handle HuK, has occasionally earned the title “the Great White Hope of StarCraft,” for his ability to make inroads into a game dominated by Korean pros. HuK is not only one of the StarCraft community’s greatest players but also a huge personality who never fails to leave an impression on fans.

HuK has been an incredible source of both drama and fun since the StarCraft II beta launch. Among the fans’ favorite HuK moments: intimidating IdrA out of a near win with hallucinated voidrays, exercising his classic mothership rush in important matches at MLG, and simply upholding his claim to “top three control” by blasting through major tournaments, all the while sporting his coy little-boy smile.

HuK accomplished all this while displaying one of the most entertaining and effective play styles known in the game. He dabbled with what many consider to be gimmicky play and/or highly risky play, but still made those tactics work effectively because of his innate brilliance and meticulously-calculated execution.

As most fans know, HuK blasted through almost every tournament in which he played for a considerable time in mid-2011, winning DreamHack Summer 2011, Homestory Cup 3 and MLG Orlando. In doing so, he firmly reestablished himself as not only one of the best foreigners in StarCraft II, but also as one of the best pro players on the global StarCraft II scene. This string of triumphs came after a considerable dry period in terms of tournament results; his sudden turnaround was without doubt the direct result of the time he spent training in the oGs-Liquid house in Korea prior to competing.

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HuK was even recognized by his pro-gaming peers such as MC to be one of the most devoted and hard-working players. This is yet another testament to how truly refined, calculated, and intelligent HuK's play has become following his time in Korea.

After his string of victories, HuK joined EG, returned to Korea to train in the SlayerS house and competed in the GSL. HuK's GSL results were very promising at first, but then suddenly and disappointingly fell off, eliminating him from competition. Since he was resident overseas, this effectively precluded HuK from competing in many tournaments worldwide aside from GSL, and he was left to focus on practicing with top players in Korea.

Now HuK has the opportunity to leave his Korean training regimen and his practice partners and re-enter the competitive scene with a vengeance. He’s coming to Red Bull Battlegrounds on May 26 in Austin, Texas, and this could set the stage for an amazing comeback.

HuK may have maintained a relatively low profile on the competitive scene recently, but he has not been idle -- he has been incredibly focused on training with the best of the best in Korea. It will be interesting to see whether there is a real payout for his efforts during this competition. All of the elements are in place for an astonishing resurgence. This is a unique moment, and experience suggests that HuK does not miss his timings.

The action has concluded at Red Bull Battlegrounds, the 16-player StarCraft II tournament set at Austin City Limits Live in Texas. Jang “MC” Min Chul took top honors, defeating Choi “Bomber” Ji Sung...